


Christmas in Hollywood

by truth_renowned



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-08-31 10:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8575036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truth_renowned/pseuds/truth_renowned
Summary: Peggy celebrates her first Christmas in Los Angeles with Daniel.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the wonderful geekruminations for betaing this!

Daniel finds her looking out the picture window, her hand holding the gossamer curtains to one side. Trying to walk as quietly as possible, he moves toward her. She hears him, looking at him over her shoulder.

He looks in her eyes, worried. “You okay, Peg? You look upset.”

She shakes her head. “Not upset, just… I don’t know… nostalgic.” She smiles. “I know, you thought you’d never hear that Peggy Carter gets nostalgic.”

“We all do,” he says, wrapping an arm around her waist. “What are you nostalgic about?”

“Every Christmas that I can remember, we had snow. In England, New York, even in Russia, though that snow was no fun.” She looks out the window again. “Los Angeles is quite different.”

He nods. “I miss the beauty of the snowfall, but I don’t miss scraping the car windshield or shoveling snow. And I really don’t miss walking on ice.”

“True.” She smiles and turns to him. “It just doesn’t seem like Christmas without snow.”

“I know, but we’re spending it together. That’s a plus, right?”

The hopefulness in his voice warms her heart. “It's the best plus.”

Her lips meet his in a promising kiss, which becomes more and more promising as the seconds tick by.

After their lips finally part, he says in a rough voice, “You’d better get going before I talk you into playing hooky.”

Her eyebrows shoot up conspiratorially but she pulls away, grabbing her purse as she goes to the door. “You’ll be in today?”

He nods. “In an hour or so. I have some reports to review first. I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

\------------

The day flies by, filled with meetings, briefings, more meetings, budget reviews and yet more meetings. Peggy finds herself losing track of time, looking up at the clock and doing a double-take when it reads five o’clock. Normally she would work several more hours, but it was bloody Christmas Eve.

She walks by Daniel’s office, finding the room dark and door locked. Not surprising; they rarely arrived and left work at the same time. As she drives home, she looks at the palm trees swaying in the light breeze. It is beautiful here but different, she thinks. Not bad different, just different. As long as Daniel is here, it never will be bad different.

Before she realizes it, she is parked in front of their house and getting out of the car. As she opens the front door, she stops and looks inside, thoroughly confused. 

_Am I at the wrong house?_

Tentatively, she enters the dimly lit living room, which smells of pine and mulled cider, and the soft sounds of Bing Crosby waft from the Victrola. A fire is going in the fireplace, the Christmas music punctuated with crackling wood.

_What is going on?_

As she walks further into the room, she smiles at a small tree tucked in the corner, white lights twinkling in the firelight. Red velvet bows are sprinkled on the branches, and a silver star sits on the tree’s top.

_When did he have time to do this? And where is he?_

She walks through the living room and peeks into the kitchen, finding a pot on the stove and a covered cake pan on the counter, but no Daniel anywhere. She passes by the bathroom and the second bedroom but doesn’t see any sign of him.

Finally, she finds him in the main bedroom, straightening a garish Christmas tie around his neck. He sees her in the mirror and turns around.

“Oh, you’re home earlier than I thought.”

“Daniel, what is all of this?”

He shrugs. “I wanted you to have a good first Christmas without snow.”

“How did you do this? I saw you at work a few hours ago.”

“I had help from Rose,” he says with a shy smile. “I gave her a half-day off, and she set most of this up.”

She takes his hand and squeezes it. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know but I wanted to. You seemed so sad that there was no snow. I thought this would cheer you up.” His smile fades. “Stupid idea, right?”

“No, not at all,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I wasn’t sad, just remembering. I don't need snow, Daniel. I have you this Christmas. The snow would have been icing on the cake.”

He smiles, and she feels her heart swell.

“Speaking of cake, Rose made one of her spiced rum ones. I may have sampled it.”

“I noticed,” she says, brushing a crumb from the corner of his mouth. His hand catches hers and brings it to his lips, kissing her fingers.

Her lips meet his, and she tastes the hint of rum and a sweetness that she suspects is the glaze from the cake but could be just him. This sweet, thoughtful, wonderful man.

The kiss resolves itself, and she lays her head on his shoulder, sighing contently at being in his arms.

“I didn’t have time to make a meal,” he says, his hands rubbing along her back, “but there’s some leftover turkey heating in the oven.”

She pulls back, meeting his gaze. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”

He sweeps a stray curl from her cheek. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am,” she says, her voice cracking. “I am deliriously happy, and not because of the mulled cider or spice cake or Christmas music. You make me happy. Being with you, on Christmas and every other day, makes me happy.”

He gives her a soft kiss. “Come on, let’s try that cider. Rose made it, so I have a feeling it’ll have a kick to it.”

“I hope so,” she says. “I could use a stiff drink after today.”

They arrive in the kitchen, and Daniel fills their mugs with cider from the pot. Peggy carries them to the living room and they relax on the couch. She kicks off her shoes and curls up against Daniel’s side, his arm around her shoulder. Taking a sip of the warm spiced liquid, she realizes he's right: the cider has very healthy kick to it, but it's wonderful. It’s all wonderful. This is exactly what she needed.

She plants a quick peck on his cheek. “Thank you, for everything. This is the perfect evening.”

“It’s just starting,” he says with a flip of his eyebrows.

She playfully bats at his arm, and he kisses her temple.

“I wanted to make sure you have a happy Christmas,” he says.

“I am, thanks to you.” She smiles. “I haven’t heard the phrase ‘Happy Christmas’ in years. It’s what we say in England; ‘happy’ rather than ‘merry’.”

“I know. Happy Christmas, Peg.”

“Happy Christmas, Daniel.”


End file.
